{"id":106920,"date":"2021-02-12T14:23:05","date_gmt":"2021-02-12T14:23:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=106920"},"modified":"2021-02-12T14:23:05","modified_gmt":"2021-02-12T14:23:05","slug":"wall-street-set-to-edge-lower-at-open-as-energy-stocks-slip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/wall-street-set-to-edge-lower-at-open-as-energy-stocks-slip\/","title":{"rendered":"Wall Street set to edge lower at open as energy stocks slip"},"content":{"rendered":"
(Reuters) – Wall Street\u2019s main indexes were set to open slightly lower on Friday as energy stocks slipped while investors booked profits after a rally on bets of fiscal stimulus and a vaccine-fueled bounce back in the economy.<\/p> Chevron Corp, Occidental Petroleum Corp and Exxon Mobil Corp dipped between 0.5% and 1.1% in premarket trading as oil prices retreated on demand fears. [O\/R]<\/p>\n U.S. President Joe Biden will meet with a bipartisan group of mayors and governors on Friday as he continues to push for approval of a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan.<\/p>\n All three major indexes hit record highs this week and were on course for their second straight weekly rise, as a sharp drop in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations also buoyed hopes of life eventually returning to normal.<\/p>\n U.S. stock markets will be closed on Monday on account of George Washington\u2019s Birthday.<\/p>\n \u201cThe markets have gone up tremendously,\u201d said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a long weekend and it\u2019s going to make things more volatile and there is just less interest in buying more.\u201d<\/p>\n A Reuters poll showed the U.S. economy is expected to reach pre-COVID-19 levels within a year as the proposed $1.9 trillion fiscal package helps boost economic activity, but it\u2019s likely to take over a year for unemployment to fall to early 2020 levels.<\/p>\n With the markets near historic highs, many analysts have cautioned of a near-term pullback, with new coronavirus variants and bumps in vaccine distribution posing as threats.<\/p>\n At 8:17 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 28 points, or 0.09% and S&P 500 E-minis were down 6.25 points, or 0.16%. Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 14.75 points, or 0.11%.<\/p>\n Largely upbeat earnings update have also supported market sentiment. About 82% of 355 S&P 500 firms have topped analysts\u2019 estimated for fourth-quarter profit, well above the average beat rate of 76% over the past four quarters, per Refinitiv data.<\/p>\n Walt Disney Co rose 1.4% after the company swung to a surprise quarterly profit as \u201cThe Mandalorian\u201d and \u201cSoul\u201d lifted its fast-growing streaming business, outweighing pandemic worries about its hobbled theme park operations.<\/p>\n PayPal Holdings Inc rose 3% as several brokerages raised price targets on the stock a day after the payments company\u2019s investor day call.<\/p>\n Economic data at 10 a.m. ET (1500 GMT) is expected to show that a reading on the University of Michigan\u2019s consumer sentiment index edged up to 80.8 in February from 79 in January.<\/p>\n